Breathe
by rain-of-the-soul
Summary: In the moments before battle, shadowhunters never say goodbye. They have to tell themselves that they will make it back alive. To deviate from this breaks the oldest traditions.


Breathe

.xXx.

He carved the stella deep into the skin of her back. Each stroke of the new rune she had just drawn this morning gave her a singe of power deep into her shadowhunter blood. She grit her teeth at the slight twinge of pain. In a small part of her mind, she was glad it hurt. It reminded her of how dangerous their lives were and how in just the slip of a moment, everything you lived for could be gone.

His ever to hot hand dipped in between her shoulder blades as he balanced himself on the sleep tossed bed. He drew slowly with every stoke deliberate and flawless. She had seen him sketch so many of the runes on other hunters over the last few years that she could easily imagine his concentrated face all but glare at the skin he was working with, daring it not to be perfect.

She had laid her sketchbook to her left for him to see. Every few seconds, he would angle his head to take a quick glance, each time he ghosted his breath over the back of her neck. She closed her eyes as he moved deeper into her back, trying to find the bottom line of her rune. The white cotton of his plain shirt brushed over her bare cool back ever gently.

Her senses heightened by the lack of what she saw, the slightest moves he made behind her commanded her attention. The insignificant shift of the bed as he moved back and the little bit of warmth on her back disappearing with it made the disorientation of blindness seem obsolete. The strange connection she had with the strong hunter made for sensory bliss in times like this. The pain in her shoulder mixed with his sheer massive presence behind her, the ghost of his energy calming her mind, his clean leather smell and the brush of his knees along her hips; it all made perfect sense to her body.

She knew where she was when he was there to ground her.

She wished she could have the same connection with him mentally. When they were lost in a moment like this, with everything in sync and no garbled works trying to express what they both know was there, life was simple. Easy. To know his mind as she felt his presence, it would be the greatest treat. When she had first met the boy that had teased her and made life difficult in all of his stubbornness, she could have never guessed that something so beautiful would grow from it.

The last few years had been a blessing. Even in the Constant dance with hell, having the fiery pit nipping at their heels as the managed to stay just one leap ahead of death, she had found the missing part of her life. The embassy had become the home that held no secrets; where she could be good at just being her. Even if she fought with Jace on a more then regular basis, and she hoped they never stopped, only the last breath of death would take it away from her.

She felt a familiar press of warm lips to her neck draw her out of her thoughts. Jumping at the contact, she angled him to her and felt the tickle of his golden hair grace her underside of her jaw. He ran the tip of his nose along her pulse cherishing the life that moved under it, a habit he had created the last time she had almost died in his arms. "Where were you that took your mind so far away?" his words slipped down her skin and loosened her tight back as he calmed her again.

She splayed her fingers along his leg and traced the tips of her nails in lazy circles as she thought about his words. "I was just admiring how grounded I am around you." Her body dipped back to settling into his warmth as their backs touched.

"Grounded? I never thought my presence was such a punishment. Do you really find me so distasteful?" His teasing tone echoed his humor as his arms pulled her closer to him.

Her half smile told of the contempt she felt, but held the worry that always came as the reasons she was being marked up poisoned the serenity around them. He felt the change in her and slid his arms back and picked up the stella.

He was gentle as he opened her hand to place the smooth wooden rod inside of it and determined as she closed her fingers around it. He could change what they were no more then she could, and to get though the battle, she had to remember that. She took a breath of air and opened her eyes again, slowly letting the image of Jace's room come into focus.

She slipped out of his hold and walked around him to his back. Most of his runes should already be there from Alec, but as of late, he was leaving more and more to her. She hoped it was his way of finally accepting her as the half sibling she viewed him as and not the cumbersome wedge that drew the gap between him and Jace.

As she kneeled on the bed, the weight of him gravitated them closer together. She mirrored his former stance and placed her legs around him. Moving soundlessly, she lifted his shirt, the same one she had borrowed the night before, and exposed the light scars and few runes that coved the muscled skin under them.

As always, she took the first few moments to trace a few of her favorites. The ones she herself had dreamt up, the ones she had seen him use in the heat of battle, the ones she know the story of and cherished so dearly. Every one of his scars signified a time when he was strong enough to live, not when he was weak enough to become injured.

Concentrating at her new task at hand, she traced the tip of his stella into one of the bare places of skin and let the black marks draw from its tip. Strength. Speed. Stealth. Healing. All of these runes to enhance his angel blood into keeping him alive for another day.

It was a special treat for them both of them when they actually had time to prepare for their battles. The batch of demons that had been set loose in one of the old warehouse on the south side of town by a fledgling warlock had caused a magnitude of missing people over the last few days. Naturally, they were informed by Magnus to 'do their job' and clean up the mess of an irresponsible child.

As she finished with the runes, she turned him around to check for any other injuries that may not have healed for his patrol last night. He had ran into a nasty group of fairies playing with a young human child and had to intervene with defensive measures only. The treaty that was in place was too important for the people and the war against the demons for a few fairies to be punished properly.

After he had moved the helpless child away from the situation, he had to make his way into the fairy court to report the situation to the leader of discipline. From the sparse details he had given her, they were none kind to find out that one of their own had been breaking the rules and had proceeded take it out on him until the queen had graced there spectacle with her presence.

From the marks that had marred his skin the night before, he had kept his temper in check and taken the toying with. She sighed again and began to run her fingers though his hair, untangling the knots that the shower had left that morning. He winced at a small cluster that clung the sensitive hairs closest to the back of his neck together and turned around in a half glare.

He supported his weight on his hands as his feet slipped to the floor. His presence loomed over her and made her lean back to give her mind rom to think. His piercing eyes demanded her attention as he moved on top of her. Languidly, she leaned back into his pillows and let herself stretch her long form along his bed.

He moved over her and positioned his weight in a way that made her fall under the shelter of is arms. She looked up at him, so serious above her and felt the energy calming her storm and ensuring the peace of mind that would be invaluable in battle. With a languid flex of his arms, he lowered his head down to her face and teased her mouth with his hot breath.

Form his position on top of her and the new light of the day steaming in through the window next to her head, his face was shadowless and bathed in the white color changes that marked the dips and lines of his contours. Ever ridge, flush of heat and expression he held was laid bare to her. The way his eyelids were lowered in the deep concentration as he mapped her face to the look of contempt and the hidden sense of worry for her made the flesh that created his body hum with soul.

When he was this close, he had command over her actions. He might as well hold the stings that his energy had tied around her limbs. She was his puppet to his body, but she was in control of his heart and sense of feeling. She fueled his instincts with her power and commanded his strength with her light. When his lips touched hers in a feather light caress, their eyes did not close. He held her trapped as his head shifted and he tasted her again, deeper, but still ever so slow.

The sound of the dropping stella brought a smile to his face and light dance though his eyes. She reached with her hands to tangle into his hair and pull him closer to her. Another gentle caress of his lips caused tremors to rake her hands. Her eyes slid shut as she settled into his pillows again. Just like the last time, as soon as she gave her control to him, she found her breath, her mind and her presence.

The shift was immediate. His lips became a whisper of power greater then the shakes she felt or the now desperate need for breath. He delved deeper into her mouth as the unspoken possibility of what could be there last kiss echoed in the silence around them. Though there words never said goodbye, she could never resist her body's urge to give him this last taste of life, hoping she could pass enough of it though her lips to him to make up for blood he would soon lose in battle from unavoidable injuries.

It was unspoken, hard and yet beautifully them as they parted for breath. He moved his head into her neck again. The pulse under his lips throbbed even harder. The primal part of his instincts that ran as deep as the angel inside of him felt the satisfaction that it was him who made her throb with life so deeply.

When he raised himself from the inescapable pull of her head, he laid it on her forehead and let the light settle over them both. His chest moved with hers as he stole her breath gave it back a few seconds later. In these moments, the few seconds to spare before battle, they never stood to say goodbye, because they would return home, they simply gave a brief moment to bask in the beauty of life and how quickly it could be taken away.

.xXx.

Disclaimer: I am proud not to own the mortal interment rights because if I did, they would have never turned out as good as they are now. I can't wait for the next one to come out! Only a few more weeks!

AN. Ha! Ok, so I know this is not the normal kind of fic, but I wanted to pack a bunch of feeling into a small amount of space. I think that as they grow a bit older, this is what will become of them. I see this kind of thing happening with a lot of shadowhunter couples at they leave before battle… dunno. Let me know what you think! ^_^


End file.
